For some reason, our society has deemed it weird or hard to believe that a girl would watch and follow football.
Apparently, fans are primarily men who have either played the sport or have an innate understanding of the sport because they just do. Year after year, I find myself explaining and proving myself to a guy who questions my knowledge of football. I have never deemed myself to be a feminist but when it comes to sports, I take pride in my ability to compete with the opposite sex. Some people might disagree with my opinion, but I’ll give a story to prove my point.
Last year, I was at a party while the first Broncos game of the season was being played. While I love my social outings, I love my Broncos more. This being said, I stepped away from the crowd to watch the game on TV. A guy came up to me and said “no way you understand football.” Rather than engaging, I responded with a simple “yeah”. And instead of dropping the subject, he said “prove it.”
First of all, I nearly lost it but I calmed myself and continued to prove him wrong. I listed the entire defensive line, offensive line, strengths of the team, best games in Bronco’s history, coaching tendencies and my predictions for the season. He was dumbfounded to say the least.
For as long as I can remember, I have been surrounded by sports. I am 1 of 127 people in my extended family who played a sport at some point in their life. We are a big family, but more importantly, we are competitive. Growing up, I wanted to play every sport possible- softball, volleyball, soccer, swimming, horseback riding. One of the reasons why I wanted to be an athlete was because my role models were the boys in my family who excelled in a particular sport- football. I made it a point to learn and understand the sport in its entirety.
So yes, I know football. Yes, I will prove you wrong if you question me. And yes, football season is my favorite time of the year. This being said, this football season is no different than the previous. I have to prove myself to the guys who think I can’t be a football fan because I’m a girl.